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Joburg security firms up in arms over City’s decision to insource guards

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Tuesday, 13 February 2018 13:40

The Star reports that security companies set to lose millions of rand in business from the City of Johannesburg have vowed to challenge the metro’s decision to insource the service.

The legal threat comes after the metro last week announced plans to hire 4,000 privately employed security guards stationed at its various properties. Currently, the City said, it outsourced security services through over 150 contracts. On average Joburg paid R14,000 per guard and claimed that, nonetheless, the firms paid the guards salaries of about R4,500 per month. Jones Maphalaphathwa of the Association of African Private Security Owners of SA said they objected to the move and he accused the City of politicising the matter. “We are objecting to this. We are intending to write to the City to try to see if we can meet with them and convince them against this decision. It is going to have a serious impact on our industry,” he said. The organisation bemoaned that there had been no consultation with the stakeholders prior to Joburg announcing its decision. Maphalaphathwa disputed that the companies poorly paid guards, saying that this would be difficult to get away with as the industry was heavily regulated. City spokesperson Luyanda Mfeka said the metro was not willing to respond to an organisation that did it not have any relations with. But he said Joburg was determined to proceed with its plans and would individually consult the affected security companies.